This invention relates to a physical restraining pad assembly and system. It is often necessary to employ a physical restraint device to restrain an individual who becomes violent for one reason or another to prevent that individual from hurting himself or others. Physical restraint systems are commonly practiced in prisons, mental institutions, and other facilities as well as in public, i.e., to effect arrests or involuntary immobilizations. Because physical restraint is usually required under less than ideal circumstances involving either or both an agitated, violent individual and one or more cautious yet apprehensive attendants, problems may arise when restraint is attempted. One such problem is injury to the attendant due to uncontrolled, violent and forceful movements of the individual being restrained. This invention provides protection to attendants through padding and, optionally, impact-resistant kick protection panels. This invention protects the restrained individual from suffocation because the pad is completely breathable. Also, once an individual is restrained, escape is a concern.
Touch fasteners of various designs, strengths and structures have variable and predictable resistance to shear and peel forces and have been found suitable by applicant for application to this invention. These touch fasteners are also usable as xe2x80x9cstopsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbrakesxe2x80x9d to provide a guard against escape of the individual once restrained.
Additionally, stops of touch fastener material may be placed along the pad to provide a guard against escape of the individual once restrained. Finally, because of the volatile circumstances giving rise to the need to physically restrain an individual, restraint attempts may be unsuccessful. Furthermore, a large surface area of each pad is covered by touch fasteners to ensure that any contact between two complementary pads will result in a bond with out regard to the alignment or orientation of one pad relative to the other.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly that is easy to use in order to restrain an individual.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly that provides kick-protection to the attendant when restraining a violent individual.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly that provides head protection to the restrained individual.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly that is breathable to prevent suffocation of the restrained individual.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly that may be used for different purposes by placing different inserts in a pocket in the outer mesh.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly to provide a bullet proof pad for use in crowd control.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly that is suitable for use by different attendants through the availability of different handle positions.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly that gives the attendant visibility of the violent individual on the other side upon approach while still maintaining the protection of the pad.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly that affords a great probability of successfully restraining an individual due to a large surface area of touch fasteners that form bonds with complimentary touch fasteners when the two come into contact.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly that provides kick-protection and punch-protection to the attendant when restraining a violent individual. The invention makes it possible to provide this protection in varying thicknesses, weights and resiliences, as desired by the customer and as required by the intended application.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly that may be used for different purposes by placing different layers on top of or behind the basic pad assembly. These may be fixed in place as needed by touch fasteners, rivets, grommets, zippers or such other devices as may prove effective.
It is another object of the invention to provide a physical restraining pad assembly which includes a bullet-proof pad for use in crowd control, hostage, barricade or sniper situations.
It is another object of the invention to provide a pad assembly which includes a mesh covering within which varying layers of shock absorbent materials are contained, and, to the covering are attached additional layers of specialized materials for accomplishing additional tasks such as bullet and missile protection.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in the preferred embodiments disclosed by providing a physical restraining pad assembly including a pad constructed of a flexible, breathable material of a size and shape to cover the body of an individual with arms outstretched. An outer mesh covering encloses the pad. A plurality of spaced handles are positioned on a back side of the pad for use by an attendant. The pad has a viewing window of a size and shape to allow the attendant to see through the pad for observing the individual being restrained.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the plurality of spaced handles are positioned to accommodate varying arm lengths and heights of different attendants.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the pad includes a supplemental head restraining pad positioned adjacent to a top edge of the pad to provide head protection for the individual when restrained.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the pad is constructed of fire-retardant materials.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the pad of flexible, breathable material is constructed of a plurality of overlaid layers. The overlaid layers include a layer of dense matting to provide rigidity to the pad and protection for the attendant against movement of the individual, a layer of soft matting to promote flexibility of the pad, and an inner layer of mesh to fix the layers and to promote breathability of the pad.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the pad includes a plurality of pieces of impact-resistant Styrofoam spaced apart from each other along the width and length of the pad within the outer mesh covering of the pad to provide additional kick protection to the attendant while maintaining breathability;
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the pad includes a pocket positioned within the outer mesh covering of the pad on the back side thereof for receiving one or more supplemental inserts.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, a supplemental insert is a bulletproof panel.
The objects of the present invention are also achieved in the preferred embodiments disclosed by providing a physical restraining pad assembly for use in restraining a violent individual including a first pad constructed of a flexible, breathable material of a size and shape to cover the body of an individual with arms outstretched. The first pad includes, an outer mesh covering enclosing the entire pad, touch-fasteners on a front side of the first pad, a plurality of spaced handles positioned on a back side of the first pad for use by a first attendant, and a viewing window of a size and shape to allow the first attendant to see through the first pad for observing the individual being restrained. A complementary second pad is constructed of a flexible, breathable material of size and shape to cover the body of an individual with arms outstretched for use in conjunction with the first pad in order to confine a violent individual. The complementary second pad includes an outer mesh covering enclosing the entire pad, complementary touch fasteners on a front side of the complementary second pad, a plurality of handles positioned on a back side of the complementary second pad for use by a second attendant, and a viewing window of a size and shape to allow the second attendant to see through the complementary second pad for observing the individual being restrained.
The first pad is manoevered by the first attendant and the complementary second pad is manoevered by the second attendant to sandwich a violent individual therebetween such that the touch fasteners on the back side of the first pad and the complementary touch fasteners on the back side of the complementary second pad meet to form a bond of sufficient strength to restrain the individual within the remaining space between the two pads where the touch fasteners are not in contact.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the plurality of handles are positioned to accommodate varying arm lengths and heights of users.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the physical restraining pad assembly includes a supplemental head restraining pad positioned adjacent to a top edge of each pad to provide head protection for the individual when restrained.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the touch fasteners include spaced-apart strips of touch fasteners located on the front side of the first pad and the complementary touch fasteners include spaced-apart strips of complementary touch fasteners located on the front side of the complementary second pad, positioned to mate with the spaced-apart strips of touch fasteners when the two pads are pressed together.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the touch fasteners include vertically spaced strips of touch fasteners that occupy at least fifty percent of the surface area of the front side of the first pad and the complementary touch fasteners include horizontally spaced strips of complementary touch fasteners that occupy at least fifty percent of the surface area of the front side of the complementary second pad such that when the two pads are engaged, the touch fasteners and the complementary touch fasteners form a bond of reinforced strength.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the vertically spaced strips of touch fasteners and the horizontally spaced strips of complementary touch fasteners include a series of stops for interrupting the separation of the fasteners from each other, including touch fastener material that is sewn to the outer mesh of each pad on one edge only to form a flap that inhibits any attempt to separate the bond formed by the touch fastener material when lifted once contact of the touch fasteners has been made to impede escape of the violent individual once restrained.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the touch fasteners and the complementary touch fasteners are perforated to allow the restrained individual to breath through the thickness of the pad underlying the touch fasteners.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the first pad and the complementary second pad are constructed of fire-retardant materials.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, both the first and the complementary second pads of flexible, breathable material are constructed of a plurality of overlaid layers. Each pad includes a layer of dense matting to provide rigidity to the first and the complementary second pads and protection for the attendant against movement of the individual, a layer of soft matting to promote flexibility of the first and the complementary second pads, and an inner layer of mesh to fix the layers and to promote breathability of the first and the complementary second pads.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, both the first and the complementary second pads include a plurality of pieces of impact-resistant Styrofoam spaced apart from each other along the width and length of each pad within the outer mesh covering of each pad to provide additional kick protection to the attendant while maintaining breathability.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the first pad and the complementary second pad are color-coded such that the attendant may easily distinguish between the first pad having touch fasteners and the complementary second pad having complementary touch fasteners.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, both the first pad and the complementary second pad include a pocket positioned in the outer mesh covering of each pad on the back side thereof for receiving one or more supplemental inserts.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the supplemental insert is a bulletproof panel.